Conventionally, a vehicle driving apparatus that is installed in an electric vehicle such as a hybrid vehicle and wherein the torque of an engine, or more specifically, wherein a part of the engine torque is transferred to a generator and the rest of the engine torque is transferred to driven wheels, includes a planetary gear unit with a sun gear, a ring gear, and a carrier. The carrier is connected to the engine, while the ring gear and a motor are connected to the driven wheels via a transmission. Also, the sun gear is connected to the generator. Accordingly, the rotation output from the ring gear and the motor is transferred to the driven wheels so that a driving force is generated.
During running of the hybrid vehicle where the motor is driven and a torque of the motor, i.e., a motor torque, is transferred to the driven wheels via the transmission, an engine start control and a downshift control are executed when it is necessary to change a speed for downshifting in the transmission or to start the engine. In such case, either the engine start control or the downshift control is started ahead of the other. Once this control is ended, the other control is subsequently started.
Further, in cases where either the engine start control or the downshift control is being executed and it becomes necessary to execute the other control, once the currently executed control is ended, the other control is subsequently started.